Simply Rachel Nicole

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Wednesday, August 8, 2018

I know I have been talking a lot about pregnancy on the blog lately, but I am pregnant and this is my blog, so I guess I am allowed to. ;) If you aren't interested, feel free to click the little X at the top of your screen. Anyways, I wanted to talk about why I exercise during pregnancy. I know that some women don't and that is 100% okay. We all have our reasons for doing what we do and one thing may work for someone that doesn't work for someone else. But, I want to share my experiences and would love to hear yours!

I Feel Like It Helps Me Have Easier Deliveries
One big reason why I exercise during pregnancy is because I truly believe it has helped me have easier deliveries. Obviously labor and delivery is never "easy", but I have been blessed with quick labors and deliveries that go very smoothly. I can't even begin to express how blessed I feel because of this and how grateful I am. I honestly feel like exercising during pregnancy helps to prepare both my body and my mind for delivery and makes the whole experience better for me.

I Love The Mental Health Benefits
I exercise just as much for the physical benefits as I do for the mental benefits. I can't even begin to tell you how much exercising has helped me mentally. It truly makes me happy and releases those amazing things that we call endorphins. I know this isn't the case for everyone, and that is totally okay, but for me it helps me so much both when I am pregnant and when I am not pregnant.

I Recover More Quickly After Delivery
I feel like because I have such easy deliveries, I am able to recover more quickly after them. I am of course sore and take 6 weeks off from exercising, but I am able to walk around and haven't ever had any big issues. This is so important to me because it makes me feel like a human being ha.It Gives Me More Energy During The Day
I notice a huge difference in my energy levels during the day when I exercise vs. when I don't exercise. On the days that I get up and exercise, I don't get as tired throughout the day and I am less grumpy with my kids. I still get more tired overall during pregnancy, especially during my first trimester, but exercise helps me a ton!

I Love It
As simple as this is, I genuinely love exercising during pregnancy. I feel better mentally and physically when I exercise and I am always listening to my body. This helps me to make sure that both baby and I are doing great. I know everyone has a different opinion on exercise during pregnancy and that's fine. For me, I am active before pregnancy, so I am active during pregnancy. I have also been blessed to have pregnancies without complications thus far, so I am given 100% clearance by my doctor to exercise.

Saturday, August 4, 2018

My amazingly talented sister @court.ography took these pictures last Sunday after church and I love them! Riley was napping so he isn't in them, but the rest of the cousins and Nana and Papa are. My parents really are such amazing grandparents and I love watching their grandchildren interact with them. I also love watching the cousins all play together and have a blast! Living far away definitely makes me treasure these times! :)

Friday, August 3, 2018

Happy Anniversary to my amazing, handsome, wonderful, hard working husband! I can't believe we have been married 6 years today! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father brought us together and that we have created such a beautiful life! Thank you for always being my rock and making me feel like a queen! I can't imagine doing this life without you!

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Everyone says it, but each pregnancy really is SO different, and this one was no exception. I love hearing about other women's pregnancies and what type of things they experienced, so I thought I'd share a little bit about how this pregnancy has been different than my other two. :)

1. I Didn't Get An Ultrasound Until 10 Weeks

With both Rosalie and Riley, I was able to get an ultrasound around 8 weeks. However, with this one I didn't get an ultrasound until 10 weeks. I went in for my first appointment at 9 weeks thinking I would get an ultrasound that day, but I didn't! It was SO hard for me to wait a whole week longer and I am a worrier, so I was very nervous. Thankfully, everything with baby looked great at our 10 week ultrasound and I was super relieved!

2. The Morning Sickness Has Been Much Different

This time around my morning sickness has been so much different than with my last two pregnancies. With Rosalie I was sick all day from about 6 weeks to 13 weeks and with Riley I was sick from 5 weeks to 11 weeks, but with this one I had really bad sickness all day from about 6.5 weeks to 15 weeks and then it turned into me just being sick when I would eat. I am 22 weeks now and I still get sick when I eat. Some foods are worse than others, but I almost always get sick. This has made it a bit harder for me to eat, but of course I do my best. I am just really careful about what I eat most of the time.

3. I Was Totally Wrong About The Gender

I had a guess about the gender with Rosalie and Riley, and both times my guess was correct. However, with this one I was so sure that it was a girl and it wasn't just a guess. You better believe I was shocked when they told us at our anatomy ultrasound that our sweet little baby was a BOY. Thrilled, elated, soooo happy, but still shocked!

4. I Feel Like I Was Much More Tired
I don't know if this is just me not remembering correctly or what, but I feel like I was so much more tired at the beginning of this pregnancy. It may have been because I had two kiddos to care for instead of zero or one, but either way, all I wanted to do was sleep. For about the first 4 months I felt like I needed at least 10 hours of sleep to function, which is about 4 hours more than I usually get ha!

5. I Didn't Have To Stop Exercising During Morning Sickness

I had to stop exercising during my morning sickness with Rosalie and Riley, but with this pregnancy I was able to continue exercising through it. I modified and listened to my body, but I actually felt better if I exercised. That was a blessing for me because it got me out of the house each morning and to the gym so the kids could play at the kid care with their friends and I could have some me time. :)

I'm sure there were/are about a billion other differences that I'm not thinking of right now, but these are some big ones. What are some of the differences that you experienced with your pregnancies?